


Individual Medley

by Vorvayne



Category: Free!
Genre: Fluff and Smut, Haru and Rin on the Japanese National Swim Team, M/M, Post-Canon, Rin's complicated feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-07
Updated: 2016-07-07
Packaged: 2018-07-22 03:41:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,112
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7418407
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vorvayne/pseuds/Vorvayne
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <em>He watches as Haru executes a technically excellent backstroke, a fluid if imperfect breaststroke, and the most beautiful butterfly Rin has ever seen. It’s - it’s - </em>
</p><p> </p><p><em></em>Unfair<em>, is what it is.</em></p><p>Haru swims the butterfly; Rin doesn't know what to do with himself.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Individual Medley

**Author's Note:**

> Well. I wrote a happy thing! And I finished it! I am SO PROUD of myself right now you have no idea. 
> 
> This would not have been possible without the help of twitter user spirographeme who read this over and encouraged me. Robin, you are great.
> 
> The woman in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDFQ5ccLQJ0 is my personal headcanon for how Haru swims butterfly (skip to 5:30). Please look omg it's so beautiful to watch.

The trouble starts, of course, when the exasperated coaches finally berate Haru into doing some timed trials for strokes other than freestyle. He’s been doing them with a minimum of grumbling as part of his workouts since they joined the nationals training team, but Haru can be slippery when he wants to be and  _ somehow _ all the coaches just...accepted that he was a freestyler and ran with it, trying him out for sprint, middle distance and relay freestyle.    
  
But then  _ someone _ points out that there isn’t anyone really outstanding in the individual medley, and they could at least  _ try _ and see if Haru’s frightening times in the 100m and 200m free would carry him through the medley with some training in the other strokes. Rin stays to watch, because he hasn’t really watched Haru swim anything except freestyle since they were learning the strokes in elementary school.    
  
He watches as Haru executes a technically excellent backstroke, a fluid if imperfect breaststroke, and the most beautiful butterfly Rin has ever seen. It’s - it’s -    
  
_ Unfair _ , is what it is. Haru’s butterfly isn’t faster than his own, of course (and Rin is...a bit glad about that. He’s not sure he could’ve forgiven Haru for that, but no, he’s not  _ that _ much of a swimming genius), but it is smooth and efficient and breathtaking to watch, and the head coach looks as if he might cry a little bit, and Rin  _ is _ crying a little bit, and then there’s a huddle of coaches around Haru and Haru’s looking more and more cornered. It’s hard to tell, if you don’t know what you’re looking for; a stressed Haruka is more physically relaxed, as if he can make himself liquid and flow around whatever the problem is. It’s one reason why he’s such a good swimmer, because Rin found out through bitter experience that your times suck if you’re too tense.

 

-

 

Haru’s withdrawn at dinner.    
  
“You trying to poach my stroke, Nanase?” Rin says, because he’s been a moron this long and hasn’t found out how not to be so far.

Haru shakes his head. “Butterfly isn’t yours, Rin.” 

So much for lightening the mood. But Haru lets Rin get away with calling Haru by his family name less and less these days, so Rin tries a different tack. “I know. I’m just surprised you aren’t actually married to freestyle.”

Haru prods his rice unenthusiastically with his chopsticks. “If it turns out I’m no good, I’ll just be doing freestyle again.”   
  
“And if you are good?”

There isn’t a reply, and Rin doesn’t push it. 

 

-

 

It makes him sick, though, that he isn’t over this. That even though they’re on the same team now, that they’re friends now, he somehow isn’t over this. Envy is ugly on everyone, and he bets it’s especially ugly on people who’ve managed to get everything they ever wanted. 

Nanase Haruka’s butterfly still makes him want to cry with about twenty feelings at once.

He tries to pick them apart, one by one. There’s the envy, obviously. But there’s also: how good would he be if I hadn’t stolen years of his training time with my stupidity? How good would both of us be if we’d stayed together and trained together?

How close would they be now?   
  
Haru talks to Makoto on the phone nearly every day. Sometimes it’s just a quick call, with both of them so busy, but sometimes it’s much longer. Makoto still does most of the talking, but Haru breathes easier and makes listening noises.

Rin isn’t jealous of that, either, but there are...feelings about it. He has feelings about fucking  _ everything _ , which is the one personality trait he tried so desperately to get rid of and never made a dent in while everything else about him slowly shifted. Well, everything except the need to train and race and  _ be _ with Haru. That hasn’t changed a bit, and Rin thinks, maybe I just need to go and see Haru, try actually talking about it for once.    
  
(Maybe he’s grown as a person, or something. Anyway, he can’t afford the mental tension; it plays hell with his times even when he forces his body to relax.)

But Haru isn’t in his apartment, so Rin heads to the pool, where Haru is swimming the fucking butterfly again. It’s not in his training schedule, and Rin’ going to have to talk to him about overtraining again, but it’s honestly very difficult to imagine Haru injuring himself when he’s just swimming in his own way, because it looks as if it’s as easy as breathing.

Rin can’t drag his eyes away. Butterfly is about power and technique in equal measure, which is why it’s Rin’s stroke, why he puts up with afternoons in the weight room. Butterfly stroke agitates and breaks the surface of the water, your upper body plunges forward as your legs relax and dolphin kick. It’s a hard balance to maintain, force and give, and Haru isn’t even  _ trying _ . He’s relaxed, none of the explosive power in his arms or shoulders, just a smooth entry of arms, soft wave of hips just barely breaking the surface, the undulation following down Haru’s legs. Usually it’s impossible to see the individual elements of the stroke through the white water and speed; usually butterfly swimmers look like they’re launching themselves through the water with their torso, even though there’s much more to it than that.    
  
He shouldn’t be surprised that Haru’s found a way to swim butterfly like an actual dolphin, but it’s not surprising, it’s...captivating. Rin feels something in his chest that’s so full it might burst, and who knows what it might let out?

He leaves as quietly as he can.

 

-

 

“You’ve been acting weird,” says Haru when they’re in the weight room. It’s probably an attempt at distraction, because Haru hates the weight room nearly as much as he hates  _ rest days _ . The coaches tried to persuade him not to swim one day a week, or at least one day every few weeks, but Haru dug his heels in and pointed out that he walks everyday and they haven’t told him to stop  _ that _ , and now he turns up anyway and just swims slow fluid lengths, or dolphin kicks for half an hour, or sometimes just floats, and everyone leaves him alone.   
  
“Have I? Didn’t notice.”   
  
“Of course you wouldn’t. It’s you.”

Rin shrugs. He’s not  _ acting weird _ , he’s just a totally shit friend and should go and have his head examined. Which is different from every other day in no way at all. He puts the barbell down and heads for the showers.

Where Haru corners him. Totally naked, but then it’s Haru, who has an unorthodox sense of personal boundaries. “You’re  _ acting weirder than usual _ ,” he repeats. “Why?”

And maybe it’s the way his inky black hair is so shiny and soft and close to Rin’s fingers, or maybe it’s the way Rin could take a tiny half-step and Haru would be between his thighs, but Rin replies, “Your butterfly stroke. It’s beautiful, and...I didn’t know.”   
  
Haru lets out a long breath, and then makes that expression that’d be a small smile on anyone else, but is just a softening around the eyes on him. “That’s all right, then,” he says. “Why didn’t you just say so?” And then, as if it’s a perfectly logical turn of events, he leans in to kiss Rin.

For the two seconds it lasts, Rin thinks - and he’s probably lightheaded from the hot water and the  _ suddenness _ and just Haru being so close and so naked - oh. That is all right, then.

“Is that why you were watching me swim, last night?” Haru asks when he pulls back, too soon, before Rin hardly has a chance to kiss back.    
  
“Yeah,” he says. There isn’t any point in lying, not when Haru’s given himself away too. Maybe Haru’s been waiting for Rin, or waiting for the right time, or something. Everything Haru does makes a weird kind of sense, if you think about it right. “Do that again,” he says, to make sure they’re on the same page.

Haru kisses him again, hands on Rin’s hips and wet from the shower, and this time there’s time to kiss back. 

 

-

 

_ (One week, ten training sessions and lots of sex later) _

 

“How come your backstroke is so good, anyway?” Rin aks. They’re in Haru’s apartment this time, sharing takeaway and watching the matches from their most recent swim meet.    
  
“I watched Makoto,” Haru says. “And then relaxed a bit more.”   
  
“And your butterfly?

Haru pauses. “I watched you."

“And?”

“And...tried to make it feel natural, I suppose.” He eyes Rin up and down, eyes appreciative, and Rin feels his cheeks warm. He can’t help blushing, every time, but he can shift closer and nestle into Haru ’s shoulder in the hope Haru won’t notice how much of an embarrassing idiot his boyfriend is.  

“What about breast stroke?”   
  
Haru makes a face. “I haven’t swum breaststroke since middle school so...I winged it.”

Rin smacks him on the arm. Sometimes Haru deserves it for being so stupidly talented.

“Stop that,” Haru says, and sits on him. Rin sits still, hyperaware of every place they’re touching. “You’re so troublesome,” Haru continues, and begins to lay kisses down Rin’s neck, which Haru can do just fine - kiss and talk, kiss and bitch - and Rin can’t do at all, at least not in words other than  _ fuck _ and  _ Haru _ and  _ please _ . It didn’t take Haru long to figure this out and use it to his advantage, and Rin can’t even be mad about it because he’s too busy melting against Haru.

Who pulls back and gives Rin a serious look. “Will you help me with my butterfly?”   
  
As if Rin has ever, ever been able to tell Haru no. As if he’s ever remotely wanted to. “Yeah, of course,” he says. “Anything you want.”   
  
“Good.” Haru tilts his head thoughtfully, and his hands go to Rin’s belt. “Then fuck me, okay?”

“I...Okay,” Rin manages, and lifts Haru’s shirt over his head. And he’ll never get used to this, maybe, that Haru is so direct and unembarrassed when it comes to sex, that he’ll forget to kiss Rin goodbye when he leaves to go somewhere but will pull him against a wall and say exactly what he wants. Rin doesn’t know if he  _ wants _ to get used to it, but he very definitely wants more experience with Haru’s particular brand of come-on, with Haru naked and half-clothed and sleepy in the morning, quiety intense at training and slightly-less-quietly intense with his legs wrapped around Rin’s waist.

Haru is exactly as lithe and beautiful having sex as he is while swimming. It drives Rin crazy, because usually when Haru’s not in the water he turns back into a normal person, but when he runs his hand down Haru’s naked chest he thinks  _ freestyle _ , thinks about the seesaw roll of his body in the water, and when Haru kicks off his jeans and boxers he thinks  _ dolphin kick _ , and Haru doesn’t make much sound when he slides down onto Rin’s cock but he does pant like he’s recovering from a race, eyes open and focused, and when he rocks his hips and arches his back Rin thinks  _ butterfly _ .

And then he’s too close and desperate and overwhelmed to think anything at all, so he just reaches for Haru and pulls him into a kiss as Haru  _ makes _ him come. Haru’s smile is small and self-satisfied in the moments after, even though he’s close himself, even though when Rin wraps a hand around his cock Haru presses his face into Rin’s shoulder and comes on the fourth stroke.

Of course, Haru is boneless and difficult after sex, so Rin has to haul them both into the bath, but he revives once submerged in water.

“I only agreed to do it because they said they were going to try you out for it, too,” Haru says sleepily from where he’s lying between Rin’s legs with his back against Rin’s chest.

Rin’s brain takes a few minutes to catch up. “What - you mean the medley?”   
  
“Yes,” Haru says. “I’ll help you fix your freestyle.” 

Rin splashes him in the face. “Oi, my freestyle’s just fine!” 

“It’s fine,” Haru says. “But it could be amazing. Like your butterfly.” And then he runs his hand down the inside of Rin’s arm, slotting their fingers together when he reaches the palm, as if that’s all that needs is to be said on the subject. 

Rin holds him a little more tightly.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Find me (vorvayne) on twitter & tumblr having feelings about anime boys


End file.
